In order to achieve appropriate economies of scale, microelectronic integrated circuitry is most often fabricated on large semiconductor wafers that each contain an array of dies. To facilitate handling, these wafers are typically hundreds of micrometers (“μm”) thick. Before use, these dies are typically (i) thinned in order to facilitate packaging, and (ii) individuated by cleaving the wafer. Most often, the entire wafer of dies is thinned prior to cleaving in order to efficiently achieve a collection of identical dies with matching thicknesses.
However, for many applications, it may be desirable to thin processed dies following release (i.e., individuation). For example, specialized multichip modules may desirably include a stack of different dies, each of which contains circuitry optimized for a different application or purpose. It may be desirable not to thin such dies prior to individuation from the wafers on which they were processed, because thinned dies are fragile and difficult to handle. Additionally, many dies may be directed toward low-volume application and may not be available and/or cost-effective in full-wafer quantities. Moreover, cracks or damage occurring during the thinning of entire wafers may propagate and affect more than the single die at which they originated, resulting in catastrophic yield loss. Finally, whole-wafer thinning requires significant material removal, as the majority of an entire wafer is removed. Such drastic material removal may be unnecessary if only one or a few of the die thereon need to be thinned. Thus, there exists a need for a process of simultaneously thinning pluralities of released dies to a final desired thickness with a high degree of accuracy and uniformity.